The present invention relates to an optimization method and device of an NC program in NC machining, and more particularly to an optimization method and device of an NC program which extract various machining information or machining conditions from the NC program used for actual machining in the NC machining which performs various machining control using numerical control information, and, if this machining information or machining conditions are not optimum, to those which optimize an NC program based on the already-stored machining information or machining conditions, extract the machining information or machining conditions of this optimized actual machining program and can store this machining information in the numerically-controlled machine tool as general-purpose information or in other numerically-controlled machine tools as widely usable information.
Usually, unique information such as a tool indexing command, a spindle speed of revolution command, a feedrate command, a move/interpolation command and a miscellaneous function command and machining histories are built in as numerical control information such as NC programs, and the numerical control information which is a target of machining control and is suitable for a machine tool is created as an NC program each time.
The conventional numerical control information was created as a desired NC program using CAD (computer-aided design)/CAM (computer-aided manufacturing) or an automatic programming tool by assigning base material data and the final component shape. This program was eventually used in the machining control of a machine tool as an actual machining NC program by making adjustments (modification and editing) of the NC program in the field and repeating a simulation or test cut in a practical machine tool.
Thus, in a conventional NC machining system, the work at the time when numerical control information was corrected and edited was not used repeatedly, fed back or stored and made usable as know-how (technical knowledge).
To resolve this problem, such art as PCT/JP96/03264 has been researched into and developed. This art analyzes numerical control information, in particularly, an actual machining NC program whose modification and editing had been completed, and inversely extracts various machining conditions of field know-how and other various machining conditions, that is, the optimum machining information or machining conditions for specific work from the actual machining NC program which is finally used for quantity production machining in the field, and can use these machining information or machining conditions as databases. Consequently, an optimum field machining program can instantaneously be programmed automatically from these fed back databases.
Thus, in the prior art described above, the various machining information or machining conditions of an analyzed actual machining NC program can be put on the database as know-how. However, some actual machining NC programs include even an actual machining NC program whose modification and editing are completed but which is not optimum with the change of the times, an actual machining NC program in which even the same tool whose cutting conditions are not optimum due to improvements of a tool and a chip or an actual machining NC program in which whether its modification and editing are completed is unknown. Accordingly, if these actual machining NC programs are analyzed and their machining information or machining conditions are added to databases as they are, there was a problem that the databases are not optimized.
The present invention is directed toward such an issue, and an object of the present invention is to optimize an actual machining NC program even if the machining information or machining conditions of the actual machining NC program are not optimum, and to enable the machining information or machining conditions of this optimized actual machining NC program to be used as databases.
The present invention, in NC machining in which machining control is performed through an NC program, comprises a machining method analyzer which analyses the NC program and extracts machining information or machining conditions, a storage device which stores the machining information or machining conditions so as to be able to be rewritten and an NC program optimization device which optimizes the NC program based on the existing machining conditions stored in the storage device.
Further, the present invention comprises a mode switching device by which the NC program optimization device switches an optimization mode which optimizes the NC program based on the existing machining conditions stored in the storage device and an analytic storage mode which stores the machining conditions extracted by the machining method analyzer, in the storage device.
Furthermore, the present invention enables the NC program optimization device to optimize the NC program to a plurality of patterns based on the existing machining conditions stored in the storage device.
Moreover, the present invention enables the NC program optimization device to select an optimizing condition from a plurality of patterns based on the existing machining conditions stored in the storage device before the NC program is optimized.
Further, the present invention, in NC machining in which machining control is performed through an NC program, comprises a machining method analyzing step which analyzes the NC program and extracts machining information or machining conditions, a storage step which stores the machining conditions so that they can be rewritten and an NC program optimization step which optimizes the NC program based on the existing machining conditions stored according to the storage step.
Furthermore, the present invention comprises a mode switching step at which the NC program optimization step switches an optimization mode which optimizes the NC program based on the existing machining conditions stored according to the storage step and an analytic storage mode which stores the machining conditions extracted according to the machining method analyzing step.
Moreover, the present invention enables the NC program optimization step to optimize the NC program to a plurality of patterns based on the existing machining conditions stored according to the storage step.
Further, the present invention enables the NC program optimization step to select an optimizing condition from a plurality of patterns based on the existing machining conditions stored according to the storage step before the NC program is optimized.
As described above, according to an NC machining system related to the present invention, if the machining conditions of an actual machining NC program are not optimum, the machining method of the actual machining NC program is analyzed and the actual machining NC program can be optimized based on the existing data of a database. Then, because the machining conditions of this optimized actual machining NC program are extracted and can be put on the database, the machining conditions which are put on the database are only optimum data, and the machining conditions of the database can always be maintained in an optimized condition.